Kibbs in Four Acts
by briwd
Summary: There were 10,000 ways in which Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Caitlin Rose Todd became a couple. One of them involved their team, their agency, a mercenary and a ghost. Kibbs, along with an earlier, alternate version of the NCIS: Los Angeles Special Ops team. WORK IN PROGRESS, four chapters planned.
1. Chapter 1

**Act One**

**Kibbs**

"Tony! Hurry up! He might be in real trouble!"

Tony could appreciate Abby's concern for the team, especially the man who she saw as a father figure.

But now - speeding down two-lane city streets 30 miles above the speed limit - wasn't the time for Abby to be loud and frantic. He and McGee needed her calm and quiet, not so...Abby.

"Abby, we'll be there in less than three minutes," McGee said, turning his head from his front seat to look at Abby. "Director Shepard's sending agents and Metro-"

"They won't get there in time! Reznikov's going to get them McGee!...KATE. Ohmigod Kate. McGee call Fornell! Tony go faster-"

"ABS...ABS. CALM DOWN. NOW."

"-Tony?...McGee, Tony, MCGEE, TONY. HURRY UP-"

"ABS. Sit DOWN, CALM down. NOW."

Abby sank back into the back seat of the rental, speechless. McGee looked at Tony, whose eyes darted back and forth between McGee, Abby in the back seat, and the road.

McGee had never heard Tony yell that loudly at anyone, even himself, and certainly never ever at Abby.

But Gibbs would - well, not at Abby, probably - and if Gibbs were there, he'd be proud of his senior agent for being so Gibbsesque.

He had every reason to be so, and McGee hoped against hope that they, Ziva, Callen, Balboa, Fornell and Metro would beat Reznikov to the house.

As the rental sped like a demon into Gibbs' neighborhood, Tony saw only Fornell's car, heading towards him; Tony slammed on his brakes, stopping just a few feet from Fornell's front bumper.

Fornell and Mike Franks quickly got out of their car, Franks brandishing a shotgun, Fornell holding a Sig Sauer. Tony saw Ziva's car parked eight houses down.

"Ziva's here," Tony said to Fornell.

"Where's Dr. Mallard and Palmer?" Fornell asked.

"Back at NCIS," Tony replied. "Navy Yard's on lockdown."

"Hope your special ops people got here first," Fornell replied. "But I don't want to chance it. Why isn't she back at the Yard?"

"Abby and I were having dinner-" McGee began, before Tony interrupted.

"-got the call from the director, saw Probie and Abs in the neighborhood, figured the boss's house was a safer place than the Navy Yard," Tony said. He wondered, after taking the director's call, if either of them noticed him eating dinner with Jeanne in the bistro across the street, and if his cover had been blown.

He also wondered where the other member of their team was, and if Reznikov had abducted her. He had to take Jenny's word that Balboa was on the scene.

Tony's phone rang. It was the director.

"Balboa says no sign. Her apartment is clean, clear, no signs of intrusion nor kidnapping. I've put out a BOLO," director Shepard said. "Are you at Gibbs's house?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tony said.

"Secure the house, follow Agent Fornell to Quantico," Jenny continued. "Check back with me when you lay eyes on Gibbs."

"Roger that," Tony said, ending the call, looking around, and seeing no sign of any Metro cruisers or other agents. His gut told him a thousand things in an instant, and he didn't have time to debate them with anyone.

"Mike. Guard Abs - and you both follow McGee, Fornell and me into the house," Tony said.

"No, she stays out here," Fornell said.

"She's safer in the house," Tony said. "No cruisers, no agents. Safer together than apart."

"Okay. Let's go in, now," Fornell replied, as he and Tony took the lead. He and McGee went up the stairs, while Tony and Franks - with Abby behind Mike - began clearing the living room and kitchen.

Tony, Franks and Abby heard steps coming from the basement, and Tony pointed his weapon towards the doorway.

Ziva, her weapon pointed towards the kitchen, breathed a sigh of relief, as did Tony.

"Basement is clear," she whispered. "Callen is down there."

McGee and Fornell ran down the stairs. "Upstairs is clear," McGee said. "Ziva?"

"You need to come downstairs," Ziva said. "No one died, but the sight is...unexpected."

"Sight? Is Gibbs okay?" Tony said.

"Is he?" Abby.

"Ziva, everything okay?" McGee.

"Probie down there?" Franks.

"Ziva what are you talking about?" Tony.

"See for yourself," Ziva said, as Tony ordered McGee and Franks to stay upstairs with Abby, and noticed the red and blue lights of cruisers pulling up to the house.

Tony and Fornell followed Ziva down the steps. The first thing they saw was Callen, Macy and Renko standing in front of the wooden frame of the latest boat Gibbs was building in his basement.

The next thing they noticed was Gibbs and Kate, asleep, in each other's arms, on a cot under the frame.

"I've checked their vitals," Macy said. "Seem normal. They're just in some deep sleep."

"I'll call director Shepard," Fornell said, heading up the stairs. "Navy Yard's on lockdown but we should be able to get Dr. Mallard to Quantico."

"Then there's this," Callen said, as Tony took in the scene of Gibbs and Kate interwined in each other's arms. "Tony?"

"Sorry, Callen," Tony said sarcastically, in shock from the scene before him. "I was distracted by something."

"Rule 12," Callen replied, as McGee, Franks and Abby followed Fornell down the stairs into the basement. "If that" - pointing at Gibbs and Kate - "is out of place, so is this."

Callen handed Tony a piece of paper.

"A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE?" Tony shouted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Act Two**

**Two and a half years ago**

One of the things Kate Todd was known for around the Navy Yard was guarding her privacy like a pit bull. She very much believed that what she did in her off hours was no one's business, including her coworkers, unless she chose herself to invite them in.

It didn't keep her from butting in on others' privacy from time to time - like the time she and Tony DiNozzo broke into Tim McGee's apartment - but she generally practiced what she preached. Her philosophy didn't stop others, especially DiNozzo, from prying into her business, and she always fended them off.

Her boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, was another matter.

He didn't know every single thing about the members of his team, but knew them much better than he let on. He knew their backgrounds, where they lived, who they were dating, even what kind of coffee they drank (including that latte crap DiNozzo was so fond of). Unlike DiNozzo, he believed in keeping what he found out about others to himself, discussing them only when necessary.

Without realizing it at the time, that was one of the first qualities that attracted Kate Todd to her boss.

Along with the banter, that he would throw her snarky comments right back at her. The heart of a good man behind the bastard persona he projected. His love for children - and the fact that he was always kind, gentle and affectionate towards them, even when he wasn't always so towards the adults he cared about.

And, though he was older than the men she dated, Gibbs was no less strong, energetic, masculine, nor brave. And his eyes.

Full of goodness, strength, integrity. Mystery. And pain.

She never knew how much pain until he finally opened that door on a horrific chapter of his life.

**The basement**

Gibbs swore to himself he would never, ever, break Rule 12. His partnership with the current director of NCIS had taught him the necessity to have a rule against dating co-workers. Rule 12 didn't originate with him, of course, and he had seen enough blowups and disasters in the workplace to make it one of his core rules.

So it never crossed his mind when he hired Kate Todd from the Secret Service that Rule 12 might ever be shattered. It wasn't the reason he hired her - the first rule that came to his mind after bringing her onto the Major Case Response Team was Rule 5, 'Don't waste good'.

Bringing onto the team was good, in so many ways, for her, for the team, and the agency...and himself. And it didn't take all that long for him to think of Kate as more than a subordinate.

While he thought of Tony as a son and Abby as a daughter, he thought of Kate as a friend, although differently than Ducky. Dr. Mallard was a peer, from the same generation as himself, a man. They saw the world much the same way, though Ducky was not the bastard that Gibbs could be. Kate? Also a friend, but he regarded her differently.

Without admitting it to himself, he yelled at Kate for not fatally stabbing Ari in the morgue, not just out of concern for his subordinate and teammate, his friend, but because he felt more for her than mere friendship.

When Ari kidnapped Kate, and they found her, and Ari was allowed by the agency heads to leave the country, Gibbs knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what he felt for her was more than friendship, more than family.

He'd have to act on it, soon, and decisively.

Gibbs took the summer, invoking Rule 4 - "if you have a secret, keep it to yourself" - and working out his emotions and thoughts by working on that boat of his in the basement. Hammering nails into the boards, sanding the wood just right until it had that velvety finish he wanted, varnishing it perfectly.

Between drinks of whiskey from one of his nail jars, he'd talk. Not to himself, and not to the damned boat. But to his wife, Shannon, long since deceased, along with their daughter, Kelly.

You see, Gibbs technically was lying when said he had three ex-wives. He had four. But, in his mind, the way he explained his marital past, he in fact was 'married' three times, all of whom were his exes.

Shannon...was different.

She was, in his mind, The One. Nothing like Diane, and Stephanie and the one in between, and certainly not like Jenny or the woman he dated during Kate's first year on the team, nor any other woman he dated since...

...since Hernandez took The One, and their pride and joy, away from him.

He long ago resigned himself to thinking that it would be the rare woman who broke through his emotional fortress, that his life would be NCIS and casual relationships with redheads and that he'd die alone, hopefully with the chance to take his boat out of his basement, put it on a lake somewhere, and sail it into his last sunset.

One night during that summer, between the kidnapping and the case where the Naval captain threw away his own wife and daughter for thirty pieces of silver, Gibbs was having a conversation with Shannon. The volume on Gibbs' transistor radio was at a low but listenable level, and one of her favorite songs happened to be playing.

"You always loved that song, Shannon," Gibbs said, smiling at the memories. He had bunches of them, about she and Kelly, and he indulged himself as often as he could. Talking to her was new, but just thinking about what she might say about his new relationship and breaking Rule 12 hadn't gotten him anywhere, and he sure as hell couldn't talk to Ducky nor Jenny. And he wasn't about to take time off from work to go see a shrink and risk bringing a stranger into the loop.

So here he was, sanding on his boat, talking to his dead wife, who was talking back to him in his mind.

"Gibbs?"

Usually when someone entered his unlocked house, Gibbs knew. His Sig Sauer would've been out, ready for use if an intruder (like Ari) had walked in, put back in its holster if someone like Ducky, Tony or Fornell came in.

But she snuck up on him. He had no idea she even knew where he lived, much less:

drove up in front of the house

knocked on the front door

rang the door bell (which reminded him, he needed to get that fixed)

found the door unlocked

opened it, her Sig Sauer in hand, ready for use in case something had happened to him;

heard him talking to himself with the radio on, sanding away on something from the basement;

and, as silently as possible, gun in hand, crept down the basement stairs, only to see a sight she never really expected to see.

"Gibbs? What in the world are you doing?"

Gibbs stared at the first person who ever got the drop on him when he was in his basement. He looked back, checking to see if Shannon was there, and she glanced at Kate, then at him, and nodded her approval.

"Agent Todd?" said Gibbs, looking ever-so-attractive in his blue jeans and grey NIS T-shirt to Kate. "Wasn't expectin' to see you. Thought I gave you an' DiNozzo the night off."

"You did. I...I just happened to be in the neighborhood," she said, while breaking her newest rule: never lie to Gibbs. "Figured I'd stop and say hello."

"Figured you'd be at home, resting," Gibbs replied. "Coulson case took a lot out of us. That's one reason I gave you two the night off."

"I know, Gibbs. I couldn't stay at home, all cooped up. I had to get out," she said, this time more truthfully.

Gibbs put down his sandpaper and stepped away from the boat; surprisingly, Shannon was still nearby in his mind, looking on with interest, almost egging him on to tell Kate how he really felt.

He stepped toward Kate, intending to ask her to go up to the kitchen so he could offer her some coffee.

"What's that?" she said, looking straight at the boat. He noticed she didn't have the wide-eyed, disbelieving look that DiNozzo did when he first invaded his basement, but there was a look of surprise behind her eyes.

"Hobby," he said, putting his right hand on the frame. "Thought DiNozzo was pulling one on ya?"

Kate momentarily was stunned, that Gibbs knew she and Tony had talked about Gibbs' house, and basement, and the boat. She in fact thought Tony was exaggerating things, and that at best the boss would have one of those model boats in a bottle, next to boxes of stuff and whatever else most people kept in their basements.

This was something else.

"Kate? Agent Todd, you alright?" said Gibbs, his voice suddenly calling to her, his eyes drawing her, towards him and his mysteries...including his boat.

"I'm fine, Gibbs," she said, regaining her composure. She was a professional, after all. "Your door was unlocked. I heard noises from the basement, heard you talking to yourself. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Always leave my door unlocked, and I wasn't talkin' to myself," Gibbs said, the first part intentionally, the second part finding its way out of his mouth.

Anyone else - except perhaps for Abby - he would've kicked out by now. And with Abby, he would've met her upstairs when she walked in the door, so she wouldn't have gotten this far.

He wouldn't have let Kate get this far either, but now she had, and he could see Shannon nodding at him, encouraging him to let this girl into his fortress.

"She likes you, Gibbs," he saw Shannon say to him, even as Kate looked at him curiously.

And then she - Shannon - was gone, leaving him alone with the boat, the basement, and Kate.

"Gibbs? Are you alright?" Kate said, concerned about him.

"Why wouldn't I be, Agent Todd?"

"Because," she said, switching into snark mode, "I thought you might be losing your mind...only question is when did you lose it? Before you started talking to yourself, or before you started building...that thing?"

Kate walked straight up to the boat. Gibbs didn't answer, especially as she began looking it over, stopping when she saw the stencil of the name on it.

_Shannon_.

"Shannon...you're building a boat, Gibbs, in your basement. You named it-"

Gibbs put a finger on Kate's mouth, to quiet her. Feeling his finger on her lips, she wondered what his mouth would feel like, there.

"Why don'tcha come upstairs, to the kitchen? I'll fix us a pot of coffee, fix some dinner," he said, calmly, sincerely and every bit the gentleman she knew he could be. "And I'll tell you all about it."

"About what? That boat? You talking to yourself?"

"Everything," Gibbs said, deciding right there and then that if Kate felt the same way towards him, and since Shannon would be okay with it, he would be all in.

As they ascended the stairs - and Kate looked back at the frame of the boat - he forgot the number of one of the rules he was going to invoke for his and Kate's 'thing': never second guess yourself in a relationship and life.

He remembered Rule Four, though: "The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person - if you must. There is no third best."

And for as long as he could keep it so, whatever this was between he and Kate, was going to stay a secret.


	3. Act Three, Part One

Leroy Jethro Gibbs Rule #4:

"The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person - if you must. There is no third best."

**Act Three, Part One**

**How to Keep a Secret**

**Just under 2 1/2 years ago**

**Thomas Morrow, former Director of NCIS**

"I've never been up here before," said Kate, as she and Gibbs waited in Director Morrow's reception area. "Looks nice."

"Looks like a waiting room to me, Agent Todd," Gibbs replied.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?"

"Hope not much longer," Gibbs said, looking at his watch. "Need to check with Duck."

He looked at Kate before she could say a word.

"This is more important," he told her. "Ducky can wait."

"Wow," Kate replied, and it hit her that their thing was a reality, and couldn't be more real unless he slipped a ring on her finger and they were waiting in line for a mar-

"Director Morrow will see you now," said the new receptionist, Cynthia.

Gibbs and Kate got up from their chairs, and Gibbs held the door open for Kate, allowing her to walk in first.

Morrow asked them straight up if they were serious, and understood what they were getting into and all of the potential ramifications. They said yes, and then Morrow outlined options in case things went south, with Gibbs insisting that Kate be protected. Morrow frowned at that, but Gibbs persisted.

"I appreciate you coming to me with this, Agent Gibbs, and Agent Todd," Morrow said. "When do you plan on telling the rest of your team?"

Kate and Gibbs looked at each other; that was still a work in progress.

"Tell them when the time comes, Director," Gibbs said. "Job comes first."

"What about when your relationship affects your job? When people start asking questions? Your own people, Gibbs?" Morrow said, at that point wondering if Gibbs had thought all of this through.

"It won't," Gibbs insisted, as if he knew how everything was going to play out. "They're professionals. I hired them for reasons. I know how they'll react to different situations. Whatever happens, this won't affect our team. I'll make certain of it."

Morrow paused. He had more to ask the special agent in charge of his agency's most valuable team, but he'd wait for another time. Maybe take a trip to his house and see that boat for himself.

"Then I'll take your word for it," Morrow said. "Remember, you're both NCIS agents. I expect you both to conduct yourselves with the utmost professionalism on the job and keep your personal lives out of the workplace. And, I know that you will, because neither of you would have gone into this without careful consideration of all the consequences. Nor, without being certain you wanted to be with each other."

Gibbs and Kate nodded.

"Then all that needs to be done is for you to sign here, and here," Morrow said, and Kate and Gibbs signed the paper officially telling NCIS they were dating.

**Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, NCIS Chief Medical Examiner**

Dr. Donald Mallard was cleaning up in his morgue, preparing to go home, having just spoken to his mother. As soon as he put his coat and hat on, Gibbs strode in, stopping near one of the autopsy tables.

"Ah, Jethro," Ducky said. "I was about to leave, to go home. I have dinner cooking in my kitchen, a wonderful recipe for a Southern stew given to me by a colleague, Dr. Alexx Woods, from Miami. She prepared it for me at her home in June, when I went to Miami Beach for a medical examiner's conference, after she and one of her colleagues, a crime scene investigator by the name of Horatio Caine asked me to assist on one of their cases, a Marine found dismembered on a beach. As I recall, I called to see if you could investigate since the NCIS agent from Jacksonville was apparently preoccupied, but you had taken a personal day, and Anthony was following up a lead on a cold case-"

"Duck," said Gibbs, with the tone he always used when he wanted Ducky to focus on the present. "Don't mean to keep ya. I can talk to ya tomorrow-"

"I am certain you could, Jethro," Ducky replied, taking off his coat and hat and hanging both back up. "However, tomorrow might not present the opportunity to discuss the matter you're here for, as privately as you would like."

"Yeah," Gibbs answered. "'Good Wives' case is wrapped up. Appreciate you giving DiNozzo that ice bag and making sure he's okay."

"It'll take much more than a disturbed Petty Officer and a shattered lamp to keep Tony down," Ducky said, walking over to Gibbs. "I assume, however, that isn't the reason you're here."

"Nope," Gibbs said, determined to see this through.

"It is, however, indirectly related to my visit to Miami Beach, the reason why you couldn't fly to Miami."

"Yeah," Gibbs said, leaning against the table. "Duck, gotta tell ya' something, and we want it kept between us-"

"Ah, the heart of the matter," Ducky said. "How is your relationship with Caitlin progressing?"

Gibbs briefly did a double take, then realized Ducky knew about them, and probably almost as long as they were dating. Hell, maybe before.

"Knew I couldn't pull one over you, Duck, not that we were trying to," Gibbs said. "Office is fine. She's doing great, so's Tony. McGee-"

"I'm not talking about the office, and we both know it, Jethro," Ducky said. "Outside the office, when you two sneak around and see each other. How is that aspect of your relationship going?"

Gibbs smiled, and relaxed, dropping his Special Agent, tough Marine, no-nonsense guise. Ducky noticed a twinkle in his eye, and a smile on his face that was genuine, hinting at a happy, content heart. A man in love.

"She grabbed me in here," Gibbs said, pointing to his chest, "and she won't let go. And, Duck, I don't want her to."

Ducky asked question after question, and, satisfied with Gibbs' answers, tabled his more pressing questions for another day. It took a lot for the Marine to open up to the doctor like he did, Ducky realized, and he wanted to build on that trust before going deeper into Gibbs' past.

Ducky didn't let Gibbs leave, however, before saying a couple of things he thought needed to be said.

"I want to see Caitlin, before the week is out, and I don't want anyone else nearby. I can handle Mr. Palmer, I trust you can handle Abigail, and Tony, and Timothy," Ducky said. "The other thing I want to inform you is that I will be looking out for Caitlin's welfare. While you haven't told me everything about your past, I know enough that you have not had the best relationships with your ex-wives. Not to suggest you would harm Caitlin in any way, rather I want her to know I am looking out for her psychological and physical welfare."

"Wouldn't expect anything less, Duck," Gibbs said.

"And, Jethro, I am watching out for yours, as well," the older doctor said, walking back to the rack to pick up his hat and coat. "I must admit, your professionalism is astounding, and I've noticed you both seem to be happier and more content since your, ah, thing, as you said Caitlin put it. And, I support that...I've respected your rules, Jethro, but some of them should be guidelines, not ironclad."

"Like 12."

"Like 12, indeed," Ducky said, walking towards the door. "You may want to keep an eye on Abigail and Timothy-"

"Sure you want to leave, Duck," Gibbs said, following him out. "If you wanna talk about that, could take all night."

"We'll discuss it then, tomorrow," Ducky said, turning out the light. "Besides, I need to get home. Mother smelled the dinner I was cooking on the crockpot, and thought I had opened a restaurant in our home..."

**December**

**Tobias C. Fornell, Senior Agent, FBI**

Fornell drove hurriedly from the FBI's headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, to Gibbs' home in Washington, distracted by the conversation he just had with his - and Jethro's - ex-wife, Diane.

_"I swear I saw him with a girl at least half his age, Tobias!"_ Diane said during the conversation. _"Three times. The park, at the market, and a bistro in Georgetown-"_

"How old was she, Diane? 20?"

_"No, more like 30."_

"Diane! He's in his 40s, for crying out loud...waitasecond. She's 30?"

_"Late twenties...brown hair. Sometimes in a ponytail, sometimes hanging loose-"_

"Not a redhead?"

_"NO. That's the confusing thing...Jethro always had a thing for redheads. But this one, she's a brunette-"_

"Brown hair, ponytail, late twenties or 30..."

_"Tobias? Tobias?...Tobias! Are you there, Tobias?"_

Fornell hung up, told his supervisor he was sick, jumped in his car and headed for Washington.

He pulled on the street, and swore he saw Agent Todd's car on the other side, just two houses on the other side of Gibbs' house. He walked up to the door, thought about knocking or ringing the door bell, then decided to just walk in.

Maybe Todd gave DiNozzo a ride, thought Fornell, who would've rather been Christmas shopping for his daughter, Emily. Instead, he was here, following up on something that wasn't any of his business. Maybe Diane wanted to know...or maybe he wanted to know for himself.

Fornell walked up to the house and faintly heard laughter, giggling and other noises from inside, by two people.

_That sure as hell isn't DiNozzo,_ Fornell thought. _Diane's right. She's never gonna let me hear the end of it._

The laughter and discussion had died down. Against his better judgment, Fornell opened the door and walked inside.

What he saw flabbergasted him.

Gibbs was kissing Agent Todd, his left hand and arm firmly supporting her waist, his right hand supporing the back of her un-ponytailed head. Kate had both arms wrapped around Gibbs' neck, and seemingly was lost in his kiss. It was romantic, and passionate, and sweet.

As far as he could tell, both were oblivious to Fornell's presence in the living room, watching them make out in the kitchen.

"SWEET JIMINY CHRISTMAS!" he shouted, announcing himself rather loudly.

Kate broke the kiss, turning her head to see their unannounced - and uninvited - visitor. "What the hell," she said incredulously.

Fornell was speechless.

"Gibbs!" she said, still in his embrace. "Gibbs. What's Fornell doing here?!"

Gibbs broke the embrace, turning towards Fornell, while putting his arm around Kate's shoulders.

"Me? What am I...what in the...what...Jethro, she isn't even a redhead!"

"Glad your eyesight's sharp, Fornell," Kate remarked. "Told Jethro after the first date I'm not dyeing my hair red, even for him."

"Not even for me, Agent Todd?" Gibbs said, smiling.

"Keep smiling like that, Agent Gibbs, I might do some better...nicer...things-"

"Hey hey HEY!" said Fornell, arms outstretched in exasperation. "Are you two...together?"

"Glad your FBI training's kickin' in, Tobias," Gibbs said, with a smirk. "Hope you got a case for us, that you didn't decide to just show up without knockin'."

"Your team know about...the two of you?" Fornell asked.

"Some of them, yes," Kate said. "Jethro. You think-"

"You're calling him JETHRO, Agent Todd?"

"Tobias," Gibbs said, "I'm about to call you-"

"Gibbs," Kate said, putting her hand up to shush him - something else that shocked Fornell. "As I was about to ask Jethro, 'Jethro. Do you think Fornell showing up here, unannounced, was a coincidence?'"

Gibbs looked at Kate and grinned. "Rule 38, Kate. No such thing as a coincidence. Who tipped you off, Tobias? You spyin' on us?"

"Heck no, Jethro," Fornell said, hands in his pockets. "Diane saw you two, at a park, a market, a cafe-"

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Jethro?" asked Kate. "Diane...is she-"

"-ex-wife No. 1, Kate," Gibbs replied. "After Shannon."

"Got a rule to cover Diane, Jethro?" Fornell said, walking into the kitchen, to the cupboard, and grabbing a glass. "You know she can't keep a secret."

"If I don't, I'll make one up," Gibbs said, walking to the refrigerator, pulling out two beers for he and Fornell, and a bottled water for Kate.

**Rachel Todd, psychologist and sister to Kate Todd**

Rachel, the older sister to Kate, had just gotten back to her apartment from the Miami-Dade Police Department's Central Division building, helping its Crime Scene Investigation division on a case. Not only had her expertise helped the CSIs and Homicide department catch a psychopath, it also got her compliments from the head of the MDPD's Crime Lab, Lt. Horatio Caine.

She was tired, and thinking about calling it an early night. But when a familiar number showed on her cell phone, Rachel didn't think twice about taking the phone call.

"Rach?" said her sister, Kate. "You got a few minutes?"

"Of course," Rachel replied, looking in her fridge for that can of diet soda her colleague brought over the other day; she was tired, and thirsty, and it was cold, good enough for her. "You doing okay?"

Kate proceeded to tell Rachel about Tony finding that picture of her, at some bar in Florida, from that wet T-shirt contest she participated in during college. Tony tried to blackmail her with it, his teasing going over the line.

Then Gibbs stepped in.

"He drug Tony away, and said or did something to him," Kate told Rachel. "I haven't heard a word about it, since."

"Then what are you complaining about?" Rachel said. "Looks like Gibbs was watching out for you."

"He was. He is," Kate said.

"You're worried about something."

"Me? No...yes. Omigod, Rach. What if they know? McGee, Abby…TONY…About me. Gibbs. Gibbs and me-"

"Weren't you two going to tell them?" Rachel said, before hearing Kate inhale and exhale on the other end. "You're going to have to tell everyone, eventually."

"I know, Rach," Kate said, resignedly. "Ducky knows, obviously the director...we're just concerned. Concerned that it might screw the team up. And Gibbs said he'd know when to tell everyone, and I trust him."

Rachel took a drink of her soda. "They might know already," she told Kate. "You're not second-guessing yourself, are you? Is he second-guessing himself?"

"No!" Kate said, firmly. "Rule 20?..or is it 30?...or does it even have a number? Anyway. The rule is 'never second-guess yourself, in a relationship and life'. We're both in this for keeps, Rach. And I can't wait for you and the rest of the family to meet him. If we can get away this summer, that is...this job. It's so fulfilling, and interesting, and Jethro being there makes it 10 times better, but it's so time-consuming."

"Maybe we'll have to go to Washington, then," Rachel said. "See the Navy Yard, and that boat you keep telling me about."

Kate chuckled. "Okay, but I still want to take him back to Indianapolis. Hopefully for the family reunion in July...hey. Sorry, I'm getting a call from Jethro...we caught a case-"

"I understand," Rachel said, glad she got to talk with her sister. They never spoke as much as she liked. "Hey. Before you go. What was that rule of his you were telling me about? Not taking things for granted?"

"Exactly that, Rach," she replied. "Rule 8. 'Never take anything for granted'."

"Then remember that, Kate," Rachel said. "Sounds like you two have something great going on. I'm sure your teammates will understand, if he's as good a man as you tell me he is. And I can't wait to meet him."

"Can't wait for you to, Rach. Sorry, gotta go," Kate said. "Love ya."

"Love you too, sis. Bye," Rachel said, hanging up.

**Mike Franks, retired NIS agent**

It's five o'clock somewhere, the song went, and for Franks, every single day in Baja was five o'clock.

It happened to be 7 p.m. in Baja California, and Franks was at the local bar he always went to, talking to a new waitress who started working there three weeks ago. A telenovella was playing on the television above the bar, and her attention was torn between the interesting older Americano and the TV.

"So your second cousin's on that TV show?" Franks asked. "I can see-"

The bartender, also new, came over to the table, shooing away the waitress. "Senor. There is a phone call for you, from Washington."

"Washington?" Franks got up, talked to the man on the other line. An hour later, he was on his way to the airport, to take his first flight into the U.S. since retiring to Mexico years ago.

**Washington**

**Gibbs' basement**

Franks found his former probie's door unlocked, walked right in, and took a look around.

If nothing else, the decor was...different than he expected. More like what he'd expect a woman to provide - or, in Kate's case, direct.

Franks then overheard someone fiddling around in the basement. Figuring he hadn't come all this way for nothing, Franks put his bags down in the living room and made his way through the kitchen and laundry room, and down the stairs.

He saw Gibbs working on a bedframe. He didn't see anyone other than themselves around. And he saw no signs of a boat.

"Hell, Probie," Franks said, announcing himself. "No boat, flowers and paintings in the living room. Fruit on your kitchen table. I'd either say that girl's having some kind of influence on you or you're losing your mind."

Gibbs turned around to acknowledge his mentor. "Haven't lost anything, Mike," he said. "Gained a lot."

"Met someone, from what you told me on the phone," said Franks, as Gibbs walked to his workbench, and began pouring whiskey in two nail jars. "Just listening to you before I left Mexico, you sounded more content, happier, even."

Gibbs handed Franks one of the jars. "Been building this bedframe for her, Mike. One she had wasn't up to par."

"Bedframe for her apartment? Or your room?"

Gibbs took a drink. "Mike..."

"I'm surprised you two are still living apart, still trying to hide it from the rest."

"Director knows, Mike. So does Duck. Fornell. And you."

"And Diane."

"Yeah, Mike," Gibbs said. "And no one else. Gotta keep the team together."

"Maybe they already know," Franks replied, to Gibbs' annoyance. "Let's pretend they don't. When are you gonna tell them?"

"Right time," Gibbs said, taking another drink, then getting up to resume working on the frame.

"Where is she, Jethro?" Franks said. "I'd like to meet her while I'm here."

"Staying overnight with DiNozzo."

"Already?"

Gibbs glared at his mentor. "Nothing like that, Mike. We caught a case, after DiNozzo opened an envelope he shouldn't have. He got the plague."

"The plague?" Franks said. "Who in hell gets the plague?"

"Tony," Gibbs replied. "We thought Kate might have gotten it too, but it was her cold. She's at Bethesda now, staying with Tony, making sure he's okay."

"Jethro, that's nice of her," Franks said. "You okay-"

"Since we got...close...I've tried to teach her a lot," Gibbs said, putting down his hammer. "One thing I emphasized over and over. Marine Corp ethic. Leave no man behind."

Franks mulled that over. "You didn't want him there by himself."

"She volunteered," Gibbs said. "DiNozzo will be out a week or two, rest of us can handle the work."

The night went on, and old friends caught up over bourbon.

"So straighten me out, Probie," Franks said, finishing off the last of his jar of bourbon, which Gibbs quickly refilled. "Second ex-wife hit you upside the head with a bat, ex-wife number three with a nine-iron, and ex-wife number one took your boat out of your basement and burned it."

Gibbs shook his head and chuckled. "Diane never burned a boat, never hit me," he said. "Stephanie was the one who hit me with a bat. Second ex-wife never burned a boat. Maybe burned me in effigy at her mother's house."

Both men laughed.

"All of the women you've dated? Redheads," Franks said. "Fiery, strong. No wallflowers. Complemented you, maybe more than you care to admit. Whatever happened to that one woman you were dating?"

"Which woman is that, Mike?"

"The one before you started dating your agent," Franks said.

Gibbs sat up from his stool, took some sandpaper and walked over to the frame of his newest boat, then began sanding. Franks got up and walked over, bourbon in hand.

"Did some checking," Franks said. "Talked to Fornell, called Ducky. They seem to think you're both serious, and that you really love this girl. And she loves you."

Gibbs kept sanding. "Kinda late to play Cupid, Mike," he replied.

"You sure she's the one?" Franks said. "Nobody can replace Shannon. We both know that. Kate knows that. Three wives, an affair with your partner, other women-"

"You move on," Gibbs said, turning to his former boss. "You don't stop living. No matter how hard it gets, you move on. If someone comes along-"

"Like Kate. She a replacement for Shannon?"

Gibbs's expression turned serious, as he looked Franks in the eye. "No," Gibbs said. "Kate's not a replacement for anyone. She's her own woman, and I care for her as much as I've ever cared for and loved anyone."

"Including Shannon?"

"Yes, Mike, including Shannon."

Franks took another drink. "Wouldn't be fair to that girl if she was another replacement for Shannon, like Diane, and Stephanie and Jenny and what's her name...but you knew that," he said. "Got all your rules, including the one Jenny brought on, kept your distance from your team, and yet you break one of THE rules you swore you'd never break AND get so close you fell in love with one of them-"

"Got somethin' to say, Mike?" Gibbs said, calmly and seriously. The retired agent hadn't intentionally pushed his protege to anger - yet - and Franks decided to drop the matter.

After asking one more question.

"You love her, Jethro, for her?" he asked. "Or you love her to replace someone who's irreplaceable?"

Gibbs looked Franks in the eye. "No one can replace Shannon," Gibbs said. "And I wouldn't ever treat Kate like that. What I've done, is because I love her for her...and, I know Shannon would give her blessing."

He looked in the corner, seeing Shannon in his mind's eye, sitting on a bar stool, smiling and nodding her approval.

"Then, Probie, I'm happy for ya," Franks said, grinning and giving his own assent.

**Ari Haswari, double agent embedded in a Middle Eastern terrorist agency, presumably working for Mossad**

**Ziva David, Mossad officer and Ari's half-sister who believes he's working for Mossad**

Ari carefully read through the folder, which told him everything he ever wanted to know about Leroy Jethro Gibbs, including Shannon and Kelly, Pablo Hernandez, and everyone else associated with Gibbs, from Tobias Fornell to Dewayne Pride, Diane Sterling to Jennifer Shepard, G Callen to Tony DiNozzo, Jackson Gibbs to Caitlin Rose Todd.

"So they are together," Ari said, a smile growing on his face.

"It would seem so, albeit surreptitiously," Ziva said. "I would expect that their close associates know. Perhaps they would, as the American idiom goes, say that the couple pees in a pod."

Ari chuckled, to Ziva's confusion. "Did I say something wrong, Ari?"

He put the folder down and smiled at the one living member of his family he still cared for, the one he didn't want to screw over to the point of murder.

"I believe, Ziva, the saying is 'peas in a pod'," Ari said. "The Americans have a unique and colorful culture, reflected in their vocabulary. As interesting as the team of agents you profiled for me."

Ziva looked at Ari, noting how intently he was staring at the photo of agent Todd.

"I thought Gibbs was your person of interest," she said.

He looked up at his half-sister, then down at Kate's photo.

"He is," Ari said, before reaching for his cell phone. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to contact my associates. I have business to attend to. Interestingly enough. It will take me to America."

"America." Ziva stated.

"A short stay," Ari said, pulling out a four-week-old photo of Gibbs, and putting it next to Kate's. "A few days of business."

Ziva wondered what those people in the folder had to do with that.


	4. Act Three, Part Two

**Haswari**

The bastard's business involved what began as a plan to attack a U.S. Naval installation and ended as a ruse.

He had profiled everyone on Gibbs' team, not just the old man and the beautiful Agent Todd. Ari knew McGee could commandeer the missile and bring it down into Chesapeake Bay. He also knew when push came to shove, Gibbs, Kate, Tony and McGee could bring down Ari's hand-picked team.

If the rocket launched and hit the base, and hundreds of civilians and Naval personnel died, well, that was business.

He didn't care about a sailor's wife. He cared about Gibbs's woman, and how killing her would bring the American so, so much pain.

Especially since there was no chance, now, of Ari ever winning Caitlin to his side.

The one thing he didn't count on was that someone on the rooftop in Norfolk would see the glint from Ari's rifle.

Especially Caitlin herself.

She saw the glint in the distance and, as her lover, mentor and boss trained her, hit the ground, just in time to feel the bullet whizzing over her head, moments before the sound reached her ears. DiNozzo and Gibbs followed suit, and a minute later Ari saw a helicopter flying towards his position.

There was no time for anything other than a quick escape. He packed his rifle, and escaped from the building on his motorcycle, just ahead of the Americans.

The next time he fired his rifle was at Caitlin's apartment window; Ari was not surprised that she was nowhere to be found. He tried without success to kill Abby Sciuto, and Jenny Shepard.

As he drove to Gibbs' house, Ari thought perhaps he should have killed the men instead, starting with McGee in Virginia, or with Gerald, or Dr. Mallard, or DiNozzo while he was leering at his sister in the gymnasium.

He dismissed the notion - they weren't his targets. Leroy Jethro Gibbs was, and once Ari finished their game, he would deal with Caitlin.

He snuck into Gibbs' basement, found the man's rifle, and when he came looking for it, he showed himself.

"I want you to know, I wish I hadn't had to shoot at Caitlin," he said.

"Why did you?" Gibbs asked.

"To cause you pain," Ari replied. "How is Caitlin, by the way?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," Gibbs said. "I piss you off that much?"

Ari rambled on about his father, and mother, and Israel and Hamas, then decided to finish his business by raising Gibbs' rifle to shoot the man.

He heard Gibbs say that he had killed enough men in his life, and it would be sweet watching him die.

"It will be sweet, Jethro, reuniting with Caitlin after I kill you-"

Those were Ari's last words before he was shot dead by his half-sister. And Gibbs comforted Ziva, briefly, just before heading upstairs to tell Kate their nightmare was over, their bete noire defeated once and for all.

**Kate and Gibbs**

One Sunday morning, a long while after both Ziva and the new director had settled into their roles, Gibbs and Kate laid in bed. Although he was the boss in the squadroom, they were equals in the bedroom - for the most part.

Sometimes, _she_ was the boss.

He didn't mind that at all - just as he didn't mind hearing that sweet, sweet laugh of hers.

"I'd love it, Jethro, if you grew your hair out, a little," she said, snuggling up in his arms. "That picture of you and the director, from Serbia. You looked _good_."

"_Looked_ good, Kate?"

"_Still_ look good, gunny," replied Kate. "Just thought I'd tell you…you look good."

"Ever think about dyeing your hair, Kate?" Gibbs said, turning to face her, stroking her cheek.

"Well, actually...I've thought a lot-" she said, to his surprise. "-about you thinking about me dyeing my hair, and wondering why you didn't ask me sooner."

Gibbs chuckled. "Not my call to make," he said. "It's yours. I'm here to support you."

Kate reached up and kissed him on the lips. "And I'm here for you too."

She laid her cheek on his shoulder, laying her hand on his chest. "I'm _not_ dyeing my hair red," she said, in that quiet, sassy way that sounded so, so sweet to his soul.

"Didn't say you had to, Kate...but if you're gonna dye your hair, maybe you oughta dye it blonde," Gibbs replied, playfully.

Kate feigned shock; they had talked about it before, after Abby dressed up as Marilyn Monroe for Halloween and Tony suggested Kate wear the dress instead and "go for the blonde look."

"I am NOT giving DiNozzo any material, Gibbs," Kate said, chuckling. "He has enough to razz me over without me helping him."

"I'll just take it from him, like I did with the wet t-shirt contest photo," Gibbs said. "He giving you a hard time?"

"No!" Kate replied. "Tony's being Tony...but he's not being mean...actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about him." She raised herself up, and sat up, crossing her legs, as Gibbs turned to his side. "Tony's...not himself."

Gibbs was silent, but his look told her to continue.

"He's more absent, lately," she said. "He's tired when he shows up, he doesn't go out as much...in fact, he's not going out at all... usually when he goes out, he tells us all about it. The girl, where they went, what they did, all the sordid details. He's not bantering with Ziva as much as he used to, and he's not even giving McGee a hard time as much."

"As much?"

"He's...when he's himself, he's the Tony we're used to, though he's grown up some since Ziva joined the team... he's just not himself as much, anymore," Kate continued. "I know we promised not to talk about work at home, but it came up, and I'm worried-"

"I noticed it too, Kate," Gibbs said, sitting up himself and stretching. "I'll talk to Jen."

Gibbs turned and sat off the bed, turned on the light, and began walking towards the bathroom. Kate looked at the alarm clock: it was 4:45 a.m. "Might as well get up, too," she muttered, before leaving the bed and following Gibbs into the bathroom, where he had began flossing.

"You think the director has Tony on some kind of mission?" Kate said. Gibbs took his floss out of his mouth and started to speak, to tell her not a chance. Then his gut told him Kate may be on to something.

"If he is, I'll find out," Gibbs said.

Kate, moving past him to find her own toothbrush, decided she'd broach the subject, too.

**Jennifer Shepard, Director, NCIS**

As was their custom each month since the director found out about her and Gibbs' relationship, Kate visited the director's office to talk.

Kate waited until Cynthia said she could go into the director's office, then stood up, thanking Cynthia, and knocked. "Come in," she heard, and walked into Jenny's office.

"I'm glad someone on your team treats my door like a door," Jenny told Kate, gesturing for her to sit at the table, and pouring her a glass of water. "How's everything going with you and Jethro, and you and the team?" asked Jenny, as was her custom in their meetings.

"Everything's fine," Kate responded, as was her usual custom, because for the most part everything was fine. Except when Tony left his leaking bottle of superglue on Kate's desk to hide it from McGee, and Kate's mouse ended up permanently attached to her desk.

Kate could blame that on Tony walking into the IT guy after walking off the elevator and dropping the bottle. She couldn't blame his recent behavior on walking into anyone or thing.

This was as good a time as any to broach the subject.

"No, Director, everything's not fine," Kate said, taking a drink of water.

"Really? Work related...or personal?" Jenny said.

"Work...but not what you're thinking," Kate said. "It's Tony."

Kate explained all of the abnormalities she saw in Tony's recent behavior, and noted that the director was giving all of the non-answers one would expect in covering up an op.

"And while I appreciate your concern about your fellow agent...we're here to discuss _you_," Jenny said. "How are _you_ doing? Everything alright between you and Jethro? Any problems?"

Kate smiled and looked the director in the eye. "Peachy."

**Abby Sciuto, NCIS forensics analyst**

**Timothy McGee, NCIS special agent**

McGee came down to Forensics simply to meet her before they left the Navy Yard for dinner. He stepped off the elevator and heard Gothic rock blasting from the lab, then walked in and found dozens of pictures posted all over.

Most of them were on a murder board; Abby was looking at video on her computer monitor, and wasn't responding to McGee's yells over the insanely loud music, so he decided to turn down the noise.

He stopped in his tracks after he realized who was in those photos, and didn't notice the sound being muted because he was too busy staring at photos of Kate and Gibbs together, in public.

"We have a _mystery_, McGee!" he heard Abby say. "Rule 12 has been broken...I _knew_ it! I knew Kate and Gibbs were together!"

They both looked at the photos, including several of Gibbs and Kate at a bistro in Georgetown.

"I'll say," McGee said, before wondering where on Earth the photos came from. "Abby, where did you get these-"

Abby grabbed McGee by the wrist and drug him to the evidence table, where an envelope in an evidence bag laid on top of Thom E. Gemcity's bestseller, _Deep Six_. The envelope was addressed to Abby, sent from Virginia.

"You check the address?" McGee asked her. "Name's not in English. It's in Cy-"

"Cyrillic, McGee."

"-Cyrillic-"

"And the address is where you come in," Abby said, shoving the evidence in McGee's face.

McGee took the evidence and put it on the table. "You're asking me about this and ignoring all of _that_," he said, waving his arms. "You know what this is? Rule 12. Gibbs, Kate...Kibbs."

"Kibbs. I like that!"

"Abby they could...could...I don't know, lose their jobs over this-"

"No McGee, they won't lose their jobs! It's not an NCIS rule, just Gibbs's rule-"

"Rule number 12!"

"You think he's going to fire _himself_? Or _Kate_?"

"No, of course not, Abs...hey!...you gotta take those down."

"I'm not taking these photos down, McGee. You realize how many hours it took me to put these pictures up?"

"We gotta tell someone, Abby...Tony, Ziva-"

As Abby and McGee argued in the lab, they had no idea Gibbs and Kate had been listening in, waiting for the right time to tell them.

**Tony, Ziva**

Ziva called Tony's cell phone for the 15th time. All of the team members were required to be reachable at all times, but Tony had been breaking that particular rule for months.

This time, he got through.

"Hello," he said.

"Tony," Ziva said. "Get to NCIS. Something has come up. Something important."

Not the thing Tony wanted to hear, especially at the moment.

"Tony?" said Jeanne Benoit, cooking dinner in her kitchen. "Everything alright? Not getting cold feet, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said. "Let me take this call. Shouldn't be too long."

As she nodded, Ziva from her end of the call noted the feminine voice in the background. "You are not alone. You are on a date."

"In a manner of speaking," Tony said.

"Break it," Ziva replied. "We have a salutation."

Tony scrunched his eyebrows at her mistaken idiom. "Situation. We have a 'situation'. And why would we have a situation, exactly?"

"Abby was mailed photos of Gibbs and Caitlin on dates. Numerous dates. All over Washington. Some in quite amorous positions."

Tony's curiosity was definitely piqued, but he couldn't leave now.

"Can't," he said. "Anyone in danger?"

"No, Tony, but-"

"Give me two hours, and don't call me back unless someone's getting shot at or worse." Tony ended the call, and saw Jeanne standing in her living room, arms folded, a tad annoyed.

"Fettuccine's getting cold, Tony," she said. "Everything okay?"

"Fine, just dealing with a, ah, needy student," he said. "Nothing that can't wait for dinner...for us."

"You sure?"

"Crystal," Tony said, thinking about incurring Jenny's wrath if he left now. If he wasn't on the director's op, he'd be on the road speeding to the Navy Yard to investigate 'Kibbs' further.

Kibbs, or whatever was going on, would have to wait until tomorrow. Dinner, and relaxation, was on Tony's agenda.

**Next**: Act Four - OSP, Reznikov, Mishnev, and Kibbs.


	5. Act Four, Part One

Author's note: My apologies for not wrapping this up sooner. Real life caused me to put this and other fanfic projects on hold; while I intended to post the final act as one doc, it got away from me…so consider this Part One. Part Two is the conclusion and is coming soon (honest!)

**Act Four, Part One**

**Alexei Reznikov, Russian mercenary, former associate of Ari Haswari's, currently attached to the Reynosa Cartel**

**Sergei Mishnev, Russian mercenary, also a former associated of Haswari's**

**Amsterdam, Netherlands**

It was a rainy, cold night, and rather than take the last table in the crowded cafe, the two Russians moved their conversation to more private quarters, to a private room in the back.

"I've known Karl for years," Mishnev said of the owner, after he and Reznikov had sat, a bottle of vodka on the table. "Stasi. He and I have...done business before."

"Is he as...active as you?" asked Reznikov, pouring himself a glass.

"No, but he offers support in numerous ways. Including accommodations to talk business," Mishnev said as he took the bottle and poured himself a glass.

The two men talked of old friends and colleagues, and of business arrangements.

"You wish me to...take care of these people?" said Reznikov, an ex-Spetsnaz officer. "This is America. Not Africa, not the Middle East, not the Balkans."

"I assure you, you will be well-compensated for your time and efforts," Mishnev said.

"Why do you care about a group of Americans? Surely your...sponsors have more important...more lucrative...operations for you to take on. Or sell."

"My interests are...personal. Ari...Ari was a friend."

"A friend?" Reznikov raised his eyebrow. "There are no friends in our line of work, Sergei. Colleagues? Yes, but you know all too well how circumstances can change, in an instant."

"I know that all too well, Alexei," Mishnev said, confident he had enough rubles and dollars in the briefcase to keep Reznikov from changing his own mind. "Ari and I were...like-minded. We were almost like brothers. His death was...significant to me."

Reznikov had no time for such sentiment. He disposed of it when he entered the Soviet Army, long before he was brought into the old USSR's Spetsnaz. "And you believe eliminating these targets will do what, exactly?"

"It will...send a message," Mishnev said as he finished his drink. "To tell the Americans, and Mossad, they are not safe. The consequences of completing your mission will reverberate throughout the Western intelligence community, and allow us to more easily complete our current business, and take offers we cannot take under the present circumstances."

"If you say so."

"Do you doubt me?"

"I doubt everyone," Reznikov said, "even the cartel I currently work for. Now it just so happens that they have interests in America, and they have offered me significant money to take care of those interests for them."

"But you will be able to conclude _our_ business?"

"I do not see why not. Now...before I take on your offer, there is one thing I will not negotiate on."

Mishnev didn't expect that. "And that is?"

"The NCIS Agent, Callen. He is a person of interest to me. I will not harm him at this time...I will deal with him in my own way, just as you wish to deal with those who killed Haswari in your own."

"Of course," Mishnev said, knowing Reznikov was both honest and lying, uncertain as to what. "It will not affect our...arrangement?"

"No," Reznikov said. "We have a deal. Your papers will be available to you tomorrow afternoon. And remember, Brussels to Philadelphia, then drive down to Washington."

"Understood," Mishnev said, shaking hands with the mercenary, then watching him put down his drink and walk out of the private room, through the cafe.

**Los Angeles**

**Office of Special Projects, NCIS**

**Leon Vance, Operations Manager**

**Lara Macy, Special Agent in Charge**

**G Callen, Sam Hanna, Mike Renko, Special Agents; Eric Beale, Technical/Intelligence Analyst**

The OSP team hadn't had more than a week off since it was formed in the aftermath of Haswari's death, and on several occasions the team had finished a case and began the next with only a night off in between.

This was the first time the team had literally finished a case and began another in an hour.

In the OSP headquarters' operations center, the team saw photos, and security camera footage, of two known mercenaries taken in an Amsterdam cafe two nights before. Then Vance had Beale play audio of the mercenaries' meeting.

"We had been working with the owner, Karl Heinz, for 16 years," Vance said. "He was a double agent, working within the East German Stasi, then as a supplier for mercenaries, many from the former Soviet Union. He was found dead, six hours ago, by local police, shot through straight line from the forehead to the navel, twice in the chest."

"Sign of the cross," Callen observed. "Alexei Reznikov's M.O. for those who double cross him."

"He was one of Reznikov's most loyal suppliers, and comrades," said the voice of Special Agent Hetty Lange, coming from out of nowhere, and over the speaker.

"Hetty?" Callen said. "Where are you?"

"Amsterdam," Hetty said, with emphasis. "Mr. Callen, you and Agent Gibbs encountered Reznikov during a case in Belgrade."

"He was indirectly involved, Hetty," Callen said. "And not the guy we were going after."

"You think there's a connection between that case and what those guys said they were going to do?" Hanna asked.

"Is there, Mr. Hanna?" Hetty's voice boomed from the speakers.

"You brought it up," Hanna replied. He'd only met her a couple of times, and knew of her mainly through Callen's stories.

"Hetty doesn't 'bring things up'," Macy said. "Not without a reason."

"Indeed, Miss Macy, and Mr. Hanna," Hetty continued. "Your interactions with Reznikov were limited to that single case, and you have never encountered Mishnev. Yet, they seem to know something of you, Mr. Callen-"

"Are we investigating me, Hetty?" said Callen. "Or investigating this guy going after two of our-"

"Mr. Callen," Vance interjected. "Agents Gibbs and Todd are our top priority at the moment. Mishnev was seen, in disguise, boarding a plane in Brussels that went straight to Philadelphia. Local, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland police are looking for this guy and so are NSA and FBI."

"Any sign of this Reznikov guy?" Renko said.

"Not yet," Vance replied. "In the last hour I told D.C. Metro police to be on the lookout for both of them, right before I called Director Shepard with an update."

Callen looked at the photo of the mercenaries, then at the NCIS staff photos of Gibbs and Kate. He wondered if this was the young woman Gibbs was breaking Rule 12 with. "Tell me we've got them both in a safe house," he said to Vance and Hetty.

"Director Shepard said she was working on it," Vance said. "People, I know you're tired, and you've done a hell of a job so far, including the Yazuka case you just wrapped up. I need you to step up one more time. We're going to Washington, to protect our people, and find those bastards."

"You won't be alone," Hetty added. "Agent Tobias Fornell of the FBI has pledged his assistance. I am about to board a U.S. Navy C-130 headed directly to Andrews Air Force Base. I will join you in Washington."

Macy looked towards her desk, thinking it was a good thing her go-bag was waiting. She hadn't had time to do anything in the past two weeks besides chasing down Yazuka mobsters threatening Navy personnel in San Diego. "Hope you got plenty of coffee. Black."

"I'm afraid you'll have to settle for instant," Vance said. "I'll have Dr. Mallard check you when we land. We'll debrief further in the air."

**Washington**

**Navy Yard**

**Abby's lab**

Tony had found the right lie to tell Jeanne, and he found himself hating himself for doing it.

He was way closer to her than he should've been - and Gibbs would've chewed him out for that, right after getting him off the op and chewing out the director for putting him on it.

_Maybe if I had been dating someone,_ Tony thought, _this wouldn't have happened. _

_Dating, or married._

_Married three - no, four - times. Or dating your subordinate and breaking one of your cardinal rules._

Tony smacked himself on the back of his head, hard, as he walked off the elevator. "How in the hell did I miss it?" he muttered. "I know them both as well as anyone on the team-"

He smacked his head again, and went for a third time when he felt a hand grab his wrist.

"TONY!" shouted Abby, standing in the doorway leading into her lab, but both her hands were free. Tony looked to his side, and saw Ziva, then noticed she was holding his wrist as his hand hovered over the back of his neck.

"Forgive me, Tony," Ziva said, smiling. "Were you imitating Gibbs, perhaps? Or playing with-"

"Not here, Ziva," Tony replied, seeing McGee moving behind Abby. "You'll burn Probie's delicate ears."

McGee rolled his eyes. "You got better material, Tony?"

"I have much better material, and so much to teach you, Obi-Wan Kenprobie-"

Ziva moved in front of Tony. "Wasn't Obi Wan the teacher, Tony?" she said, innocently. "Are you suggesting McGee is the teacher?"

McGee smiled and nodded at Ziva.

"Ziva, I am Obi Wan, and McGee is the McProbie. I am the Jedi Master, he is the Jedi Probie-"

"GUYS!"

Abby threw down a stack of photos - all of Kate and Gibbs, together in various public places - and Tony noticed she still had photos of both on the murder board next to the windows. "Tony! Stop picking on McGee. We need to pull together, to find Gibbs and Kate!"

Tony still couldn't believe it, even after Jenny told him that morning Gibbs and Kate were dating, and they had tried to keep it from the rest of the team for as long as necessary. So many questions, not just for them both and for Jenny, but for Ducky, Fornell for not telling him, and for himself for not noticing it sooner-

"They've been missing for hours, Tony," McGee said, walking up to DiNozzo, then looking him in the eye. "Whatever you've been doing-"

"I was BUSY, McGee," Tony said, out of frustration at the situation.

"Too busy to call me and Ziva back?"

In Tony's state of mind that moment, McGee was pushing way too hard. "YEAH, too busy-"

Both men were nose-to-nose, not yelling, and not close to throwing down. Yet.

Ziva wedged herself in between and grabbed both by the collars.

"Stop it," she said, to McGee and then to Tony. "McGee is right, but whatever is going on with you can wait. We have a problem."

"We have to find Gibbs and Kate," Abby said, in that scared, little girl tone of voice she used whenever one of the team members were in danger. "And find who took them."

"Ms. Sciuto's right," said Jenny, as she strolled into the lab. "All of you, this is priority one; anything you're working on is tabled. Follow me up to MTAC and I'll debrief you."

**24 hours later**

By now, everyone in NCIS knew about Kibbs.

Vance's OSP team was in Washington, working with Fornell and his FBI associates on a protection detail for both, and potentially, for the rest of Gibbs' team. In fact, no one on the MCRT - even Dr. Mallard and Jimmy Palmer - went home without at least two NCIS or FBI agents to accompany them.

Abby would've spent half the night on the phone with Kate, had Gibbs not encouraged her to get some rest.

So, Abby settled for spending half the night on the phone with McGee, who had nothing better to do than to begin a rough draft of a new novel, whereas L.J. Tibbs dumps the Army Lt. Colonel and falls in love with Mae Codd.

Dr. Mallard regaled his agents with tales of his youth in England, and a time when he was pursued by a Soviet agent and protected by MI-6, and had to go into hiding in an ancient castle in the Scottish Highlands...

Tony spent half the night trying to figure out how he missed on the Kibbs connection, and the other half trying to figure out what he would tell Jeanne about breaking their date for the second night in a row. All this while going through movie after movie in his DVD collection, and finding nothing that came close to a boss breaking a rule against dating subordinates and secretly dating them for, what, two, two and a half years now?

Ziva left her agents the impression if Russian mercenaries burst through the door, SHE would be the ones to protect them, not the other way around.

And that safe house Gibbs and Kate were supposed to be in?

It was his own house.

He worked on his boat, in the basement, while Kate napped on a cot next to the workbench, and Vance and Hetty looked on.

**Motel 6**

**Fairfax, Virginia**

"You have drawn away the special operations team?" Mishnev said, after Reznikov detailed his plan for abduction of their two targets, and his plan to eliminate any threats and obstacles that would come from NCIS and the FBI.

Part of that plan involved using two of his hired guns - criminals from West Virginia lured with the promise of a $250,000 payday - to imitate the mercenaries and lead an assault on a D.C. nightclub.

"After taking hostages, they are to ask for Agent Callen and his team, and they will negotiate only with Callen's team," Reznikov replied. "That will free my team to pick off the remaining agents in Gibbs' neighborhood-and, Sergei, before you ask. My people are distributing sleeping gas throughout the neighborhood. The, ah, neighbors will not pose a problem. None of them are special forces, ex-military, even local law enforcement..."

Mishnev thought of ways this part of the op could go wrong, and wondered if Reznikov was out of his element. Sleeping gas was a distraction at best, not a way to eliminate threats.

As long as they got to Gibbs and Kate...the neighbors could be wide awake. Once he administered the drug, he would have his revenge. Not even Dr. Mallard could reverse the effects.

"Very well," Mishnev replied. "We move tonight?"

"Are you not ready?" Reznikov said. "When my people move, we move. Da?"

"Da."

**Georgetown, D.C.**

Tony watched Abby and McGee walk into the bistro, wondering when they would admit what he and everyone else already knew...they just needed to admit it to themselves, and to their NCIS family.

Ziva was on the other side of the street, keeping watch. Tony would go into the bistro in a moment-

"Tony?"

Jeanne was a pleasant sight, but unexpected, and right now, unwanted.

"Hey, Jeanne!" Tony said, trying to appear relaxed and pleasantly surprised. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"I didn't expect to see you at all, especially after standing me up twice this week," Jeanne said, smiling, but annoyed. "You working on your film project? Or taking a break?"

"Oh...oh yeah! The project!" Tony looked into the bistro, and saw McGee and Abby settling down at a table next to the window, while Ziva looked on at them and at he and Jeanne. "Taking a break, a short break...if I had known you were here, I'd have called you-"

He lied and thought she suspected that.

"Let's talk about that," Jeanne said. "How about that place across the street?"

_No, God no,_ Tony thought. _What's here-gelato?_

"How about dessert?" Tony said.

"Dessert before dinner?"

"Well, change things up once in a while, that's what I always say. And it's gelato. Who doesn't love gelato? Come on!"

He flashed his smile, and winked at her, and she fell for it. "Okay...but you owe an explanation."

"Really?" Tony said. "And here I thought I owed you dinner."

"That too," she replied, as they walked into the gelato cafe, Tony keeping one eye across the street, hoping Jeanne hadn't noticed his earpiece.

**Gay Nineties, Washington**

When the OSP team arrived at the nightclub, they saw people running out and Metro police officers struggling to keep order.

Vance, Callen and Macy ran in first, followed by Hanna and Renko, and saw two men standing in an empty venue, in the middle of the stage, guns to their heads.

"Where are your hostages?" Vance barked, gun aimed at the men. "I'm not going to do a thing until I know the condition of those people and that they are alright."

"There ain't no hostages," said the one who resembled Mishnev, and spoke with a decidedly non-Russian accent. "We sent them out."

"Sent them out?" Callen said. "Why? Why call us here?"

"Hell, we dead anyway, might as well tell ya," said the Reznikov-looking male. "It was a setup. To draw y'all away."

"Draw us away from where?" Macy said.

"The agents y'all supposed to be protectin'," he said. "The ones them fellas who hired us are going after."

TBC...


End file.
